But today’s identity politics dismantle this innocent outlook. Children learn instead to obsess about their skin color, genitalia, clothes, or class status. Identity politics force them to navigate a scary labyrinth in which any move deemed “wrong” by the establishment results in marginalization.

This labyrinthine system is perfect for bullies: they can easily see who is fair game and who is not. For example: if a child comes from a traditional Christian home, public school policy increasingly dictates labeling her family bigots. It doesn’t matter if the child minds her own business, is friendly to others, and sees the world “heart-filled, head-filled with glee.” New forms of anti-discrimination policy focus a bull’s eye on her demographic, and by extension, on her. By painting her as a bigot and distancing her from her peers, bullies believe at some level that they are merely validating school policy.

In such cases, harried teachers and administrators not only accept the stigmatization of children by their peers, but even assent to it as part of the “socialization” process, which supposedly prepares children for the “real” world.